FILE PHOTO - The Ross Moore Lake Wildfire south of Kamloops in July 2024.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/BC Wildfire Service
June 03, 2024 - 7:00 PM
Kamloops is listed in a national publication as the Canadian city at highest risk for wildfires this year, and Kelowna isn't far behind.
The findings were recently posted by the Insurance Institute and are based on a case study conducted by MyChoice, a national insurance comparison company.
The study shows the top 20 cities at most risk of wildfires and eight of those are deemed at extreme risk.
Kamloops tops the list with a risk score of 9.4 of out 10, Saskatoon is listed second with a score of 8.8 out of 10 and Kelowna, Regina and Medicine Hat are next at 8.6 out of 10.
In order to determine the risk of wildfire risk, two key metrics from the monthly and seasonal forecast by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System were combined.
The Forecast Severity Rating measures the predicted conditions for wildfire severity using a score of one to five, where five represents extreme risk, while the Forecast Severity Anomaly compares the forecasted severity to the historical average. A score of one indicates wildfire conditions are well below average while a five means conditions are well above average.
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Combining the scores results in an overall risk score.
In 2023, Canada experienced 5,475 wildfires that burned the highest number of hectares in four decades, according to MyChoice. BC burned the most with upwards of three million hectares burned, a 2,004% increase from the previous year.
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The case study was done to pinpoint areas of high wildfire risk for the year in order for the company to determine the possible impacts on home insurance.
Go here to read the full case study and view the full top 20 list of cities with wildfire ratings.
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